Executive Order on FOIA Has Little Impact on Compliance

National Security Archive Sunshine Week Audit Finds Agency Goals Not Met

Source: National Security Archive

President Bush’s executive order for a “citizen-centered” and “results-oriented” Freedom of Information system did improve customer service at federal agencies, but has failed to make consistent progress on backlogs and has not significantly improved compliance with electronic FOIA requirements, according to the Knight Open Government Survey released March 16 by the National Security Archive at George Washington University.

“Many of the same old scofflaw agencies are still shirking their responsibilities to the public,” said Tom Blanton, director of the Archive. “I’m reminded of how many psychiatrists it takes to change a light bulb — only one, but the light bulb has to really want to change.”

The order set up Chief FOIA Officers at each of 90 federal agencies and asked for FOIA improvement plans from each agency. The Archive’s Survey, the seventh in a series of unprecedented government-wide audits of FOIA performance, analyzed all the agency improvement plans, sent FOIA requests to all 90 agencies (plus 18 major agency components), and queried agency FOIA Service Centers and public liaison offices to test responsiveness.

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